Clipmarks | Naomi-K's 'solar panels' clips

Moore's Law and the Cost of Solar Energy

Tue, 27 May 2008 00:22:23 GMT

clipped by: Naomi-K
clipper's remarks: Interesting. I like to see patterns emerging in technology trends.
This one makes sense, but the fact is that there are many different types of solar panels, including solar thermal and solar hot water, that are already competitive.

Clip Source: www.fanboy.com

Photovoltaic Moore's Law Will Make Solar Competitive by 2015

"In recent years, global PV production has been increasing at a rate of 50 percent per year, so that accumulated global capacity doubles about every 18 months. The PV Moore’s law states that with every doubling of capacity, PV costs come down by 20 percent. In 2004, installing PV cost about $7 per watt, compared to $1/W for wind, which at that time was beginning to stand on its own feet commercially, Last, year, as recently noted in this blog, average global solar costs had come down to between $4 and $5 per watt, right in line with the PV Moore’s law. Extrapolate those gains out six or seven years, and PV costs will be below $2/W, making photovolatics competitive with 2004 wind."

Tags: solar cost, photovoltaic cost

Cheaper than Coal...

Sat, 24 May 2008 10:37:43 GMT

clipped by: Naomi-K
clipper's remarks: Several solar companies have announced that they can produce solar panels that have a cheaper dollars per watt price tag than coal.

While these don't seem to have reached the domestic market yet, it's and interesting development.

Clip Source: www.solartradingpost.com

I think that’s probably the first question that comes into people’s minds when considering buying solar panels for their home.

How much will it cost? And will it save me more than it costs?

To know this, you will need to calculate the photovoltaic cost per kilowatt for a home.

Because the cost of photovoltaics, or any solar panel, is not just the initial cost. It’s calculated over its lifetime. It’s rather like buying a house. You could say ‘is this an expensive house?’

Similarly, solar energy prices are relative. As other energy prices change (like coal, gas or hydro-electric,) solar energy becomes relatively more or less expensive. So at the moment oil prices are rising. That makes solar electricity a bit cheaper compared with oil. However coal is still relatively less per watt than solar.

Photovoltaics - How they Work

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:30:20 GMT

clipped by: Naomi-K
clipper's remarks: It'd be nice to see a video of this....
The photovoltaic effect was first discovered in 1839.
The first photovoltaic cells were made in 1918.

Since then Einstein developed photovoltaics. There was a lot of research and development during the 1960's Space Race, when satellites were powered by solar panels.

The 1970's saw the beginning of residential solar use. For houses living far off the electricity grid, photovoltaics made financial sense.

Prices have since fallen from $30 a watt down to $7 a watt for residential installations.

Now due to technology advancing and power costs rising, the price of solar energy is still falling. The future of solar energy looks bright indeed.

Clip Source: solartradingpost.com

To understand how photovoltaics work, you first need to understand a bit about solar energy. Basically, sunlight is loaded with photons. Think of these as little packages of solar energy. Photovoltaics are panels that turn this sun power into electricity. They are usually made from silicon and small amounts of boron.

When the photons from sunlight hit a silicon molecule, they knock loose one of its free-floating electrons. This electron hits another silicon molecule, shunting it's electron out of it's molecule. This starts a chain reaction, rather like one domino striking another, which knocks over another, and another....

The final result of this chain reaction is what is known as an flow of electrons, or an electrical current.

Solar TPower in Africa

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:41:03 GMT

clipped by: Naomi-K
clipper's remarks: An interesting economic proposition . Countries that were previously disadvantaged by desert and arid land have the potential to become the main suppliers of solar energy.

Clip Source: www.bdafrica.com

David Mataen
March 19, 2008: Never in the history of modern civilisation was there so great need for energy like now.

Ironically, the most abundant, most renewable, most free of all renewable resources is the sun. Emerging every day unfailingly from the east, shinning all of 13 hours at the equator and discharging on average 300 watts per square metre.

A plant in Acciona in Las Vegas, United States, called “Nevada Solar One” can generate up to 64 megawatts, equal to the capacity of Olkaria II at Naivasha.

CSP provides an answer to PV’s main pitfalls, it does not involve expensive silicon wafers and wide, shiny, inviting panels open to abuse and vandalism.

Some designs provide power round the clock by storing energy in the form of molten salt. Undoubtedly, this is the solution that Kenya and in deed Africa has been waiting for.

A technological quantum leap, a classic revolution in energy affairs.

Thin Film Photovoltaics

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:32:07 GMT

clipped by: Naomi-K
clipper's remarks: One of the fastest growing areas in the the solar panel industry.

Clip Source: hubpages.com

Thin Film Solar has several qualities that could be developed in surprising ways.

Firstly, the panels can be flexible. This makes seemingly way out ideas like solar sails for yachts a possibility.

Thin film light aborbing dye panels can also be transluscent. This leads to speculation on solar windows, skylights and billboards.

Thin film photovoltaics are also very light and portable. They have already been used in products like solar camera-bag chargers and portable cell phone chargers. As efficiency increases, portable solar may become much more widely used.

Simply put, thin film photovoltaics are solar panels. Very thin solar panels. In fact, some of them have layers of silicon only a few micrometers thick.

They produce electricity in a variety of ways, depending on what material they are made of.

Tags: thin film photovoltaics, solar energy, solar power, photovoltaics, solar panels

Solar Panel Performance Testing

Sun, 11 May 2008 23:29:03 GMT

clipped by: Naomi-K
clipper's remarks: This a very good idea. Lack of an across-the-board standard for solar panels has hindered its adoption.
Having panels tested independently by the government will boost consumer confidence. Solar tiles are also an example of integrated technology. They are not as noticeable as panels. Their price is also slightly offset by the fact that they replace the need for roofing tiles where they are installed.

Clip Source: www.technologyreview.com

The government tests cars for gas mileage. Now it's testing roof tiles for wattage.

Around 500 square feet of PV tiles can produce three kilowatts of electricity, according to Subhendu Guha, president and chief operating officer of United Solar Ovonic, a maker of PV shingles in Auburn Hills, MI -- and most roofs are several times that size. His company's version is dark blue and can blend with ordinary shingles of a similar shade. Or a builder might devote an entire sunny section to PV materials.

"A south-facing roof on a three-bedroom home could supply 20 to 30 percent of the home's electrical needs," says Paul Maycock, a consultant and head of PV Energy Systems in Williamsburg, VA.

Thin Film Photovoltaics

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 04:06:44 GMT

clipped by: Naomi-K
clipper's remarks: Thin film photovoltaics are an interesting develpment.
Fuelled by a worldwide shortage of silicon (caused by a huge growth in demand for solar energy) thin film solar has risen in popularity.

While less efficient (now) than traditional solar panels, thin film is cheaper to produce.

Clip Source: solarstarter.org

I have found that there is new technology in photovoltaic cells called nanotechnology cells. The source tells me that there are kinds of chemicals that they basically “print” on to a surface and it can produce electricity. If is true then i would like to know what exactly these chemicals are and how this works. Would this be the same thing as Thin Film solar panels?

Nanotechnology is a term meaning “Technology development at the atomic, molecular, or macromolecular range of approximately 1-100 nanometers.”

Thin film photovoltaics are made of materials that are only a few micrometers thick. This has material cost saving advantages as well as fast production advantages.

So thin film technology is a part of nanotechnology. The crossover in terms may result from the name of one of the major thin-film manufacturers - Nanosolar.

Solar Energy in India and the Rise of Global Awareness

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:59:33 GMT

clipped by: Naomi-K
clipper's remarks: Very interesting: "per capita emissions." Does this mean that in the future, you could be taxed differently than your neighbour depending on what car you drive, how far you commute, how much you recycle.

It's already slightly that way, for instance you can get tax rebates for buying solar panels.

If it was broken down into 'per capita emissions' though, this would be a very different story.

Clip Source: www.newkerala.com

New Delhi, June 30 : India will put solar energy generation at the forefront of its battle against climate change, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced here Monday while releasing the national action plan on climate change.

Emphasising the primacy of developing solar power, Manmohan Singh promised to "pool our scientific, technical and managerial talent, with sufficient financial resources, to develop solar energy as a source of abundant energy to power our economy and to transform the lives of our people".

He felt success in developing solar energy "will change the face of India. It would also enable India to help change the destinies of people around the world. The plan intends to go beyond government to draw upon these assets".

"Every citizen of this planet must have an equal share of the planetary atmospheric space. Long-term convergence of per capita emissions is, therefore, the only equitable basis for a global compact on climate change.

Incentives may end for Solar Energy

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 23:51:36 GMT

clipped by: Naomi-K
clipper's remarks: This may in fact be a good thing. While I think solar energy needs to grow as a energy source, artificially lowering the price has a limited useful life.

For instance, the oil crisis of 1973 caused car manufacturers to make much more efficient cars.

Similarly, a change in solar prices could induce cheaper, more efficient solar panels.

The stakes are already high for to fill the gap created by oil's high cost.

It looks like they may get higher.

Clip Source: www2.sbsun.com

Engineer Paul Outram said the company made it through a solar market crash in the mid-1980s after tax incentives for solar users expired.

Sun Earth and other solar firms are now faced with the possibility that newer tax breaks created in 2005 could fade away like a sunset.

He estimated that the elimination of tax credits for solar customers could reduce Sun Earth's sales 30percent to 40percent.

The federal government's 30 percent tax credit for homes and businesses that invest in solar technology is scheduled to expire at the end of this year, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

On Feb. 27, the House of Representatives passed the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act. The bill's provisions include an eight-year extension of that tax credit for businesses and a six-year extension for residences.

The Senate has not yet acted on the bill. President Bush has threatened to veto the legislation.